What Happens When?
by CloseToSomethingReal
Summary: When the separate members of Tekkit-Topia each receive a strange letter telling them about a meeting, no one knows what to think. But now, there they are, trapped in a room together while the humor slowly runs out. Zoethian, Xephmadia, NanoCoffee. Lots of death and stuff like that too.
1. Chapter 1

**Suck it! The marshmallows, I mean!  
~KaeyiDream**

**So, sorry for missing updates! I had NO inspiration whatsoever. But now I do! And I have a (somewhat) storyline! YAY! So, I'm excited now! I'll try to update once a week, on Sundays, but I've missed that for the past two weeks. Sorry! One-Shots aren't easy to come up with.**

**Two POVs per chapters, at least, because I'm not great at getting enough details into one chapter without multiple POVs.**

**~Featherflower**

**Rythian's POV**

_...Attendance is required, and expected_. The letter was unsigned. I sighed. I really didn't like complying with unsigned requests. Orders. Whatever. For all I knew, it could be Lalna, trying to capture us and kill us. Brilliant.

"Rythie? What does it say?" Zoeya's voice echoed down from the science lab that was on the top floor of our new castle.

"Um, it says we have to go to some sort of meeting? I don't know if we should though." I told her, glancing around the room. Zoey' s Dream Designs had struck again, and the room was strangely decorated with flower pots, "magical stalactites", even though it wasn't the Mage Tower, and all sorts of other random things. I didn't get it, but I wasn't the interior decorator. My girlfriend was.

"I'm coming to look! Don't panic, I'm all dressed for doing science, so, yeah!" I rolled my violet eyes and wondered what crazy outfit Zoeya would be wearing this time.

"Oh, geez, Zoeya, you would have to have dressed up like Lalna, wouldn't you?" She was wearing a white lab coat, gold goggles, green gloves and bright green boots.

"What? No! I- I didn't try to dress up like Lalna! I don't look like Lalna! I have, um, gold goggles and green boots! And green gloves! I'm not- I don't look like Lalna! Besides, you dress up like some sort of ninja every day!" She stammered.

"I do not. I wear a mask. But, fair enough. whatever, my question for you is now why are you wearing a glove over your mechanical arm?" She blushed.

"Because I didn't think of it that way! Now, let's look at this mystery letter!" She declared, effectively changing the subject. I passed her the slightly crumpled piece of paper.

"Well, that isn't ominous or creepy or suspicious in the least." Zoeya remarked, passing the letter back.

"I think we should probably go. But not unarmed. We know how to pull it off. Unless it's Sjin again, we'll be fine." She nodded.

"But what will you bring instead of the Ring of Arcana?"

"A sword, anything to help win a fight!" Zoeya blushed at my answer.

"Oh. Right." I turned and walked towards the Mage Tower we had finally finished, and Zoeya went back to her science lab.

The days raced by until it was finally the one marked on the letter. I, with Zoeya's help, had her and myself up with concealed weapons. We still didn't know who'd sent the letter, or why.

"So where are we going?" She asked.

"It says that there'll be a portal waiting near Baby Jim for us."

"How'd poor Baby Jim get involved in this?" Zoeya wanted to know.

"I don't know, maybe it was just Nilesy trying to freak us out and that was the only place he could think of to put the portal. Though where the pool boy would have gotten a portal gun is a mystery to me. Any ideas, Miss Technomage?" Zoeya rolled her eyes.

"I didn't give him one, Mister Technomancer, if that's what you're asking." She told me. I laughed as she pouted about being 'accused' of the 'crime'.

"No, Zoeya, that's not what I was saying. Geez, you look so silly when you're pouting." She started giggling, then forced her face back into a pout.

"I look silly, do I?" She asked, the pout turning into another grin as she walked up to me. I just smirked.

"Yep! Now, we need to go! You got your stuff? You changing out of your Lalna impersonation outfit before going?" Zoeya glared at me.

"I'm not impersonating Lalna! I look nothing like Lalna! Yes, I have my stuff, and no, I'm not changing before we go!" She sputtered. I shrugged.

"I hope you've cleaned those since last week."

"I do my laundry everyday, Rythian. That's more than you can say! You stick your shirts out the window for twenty minutes and call them clean!" She scorned.

"I do not! I did that once, because you didn't tell me we were going somewhere and I had meant to do laundry that day!" I objected. She just giggled again.

"Whatever. You still did it."

"And you'll never let me forget it." I groaned.

"Come on, Smelly. Let's go!" She told me. My face flushed, only half-hidden by my mask.

"I don't stink!" I argued. "I literally just put these clothes on this morning! Out of the drawer, not off the floor!"

"Thank you for proving my point." She told me.

"What point?"

"Girls are cleaner than boys."

"Whatever. If it bothers you so much, you can do all the laundry..." I tried, just to have her stick her tongue out at me and turn towards the door.

"Nice try, Rythian. Let's get to Baby Jim"

There was, as said, a portal at the foot of the volcano. After convincing myself that we weren't going to die because of this, I jumped through and wound up in a bright white room. Zoeya followed quickly behind me, and the portal fizzled out of existence.

"Okay, who's idea was this?" I demanded, before noticing the room was completely empty. "What the hell?" I scanned the room for a door. Nothing. My right eye twitched. I hated locked places. With no portals or doors, we were locked- Wait! That was all bullshit. I could teleport, couldn't I?

But when I reached towards the End's magic, I felt nothing. It was worse than the Twilight Forest.

My stomach churned. The others had better get here and the meeting had better be over soon. I didn't like to admit it, but if I had one phobia, it was being locked up, or in. Cleithrophobia.

**Lalna's POV**

_Attendance is required, and expected. _What was Rythian up to this time? And how stupid did he think I was? Why would I go, unarmed, to a meeting, when I didn't know who planned it? But didn't he have the right to take revenge? After living alone after the explosion for all these years? Shame and guilt flooded me, as usual, about the death of Rythian's fiery apprentice. The death my nuke caused. ...More than I ever wanted to lose. The mage's words echoed in my head. I pushed the tangled emotions away and tried to clear my head.

"Uh, Kim?" I called, hoping she could hear me in her tower. My fluxy apprentice, and girlfriend, poked her head out one of the windows.

"Lalna, what did you mess up this time? I'm in the middle of getting ready to do ritual!" She scolded.

"We've got mail. You'll want to see this." I told her. She sighed and  
umped out the window, landing gracefully on the ground in front of me. Her hair and her clothes were pretty much the only things about her that weren't completely purple. I subconsciously rubbed at the purple splattering that ran just above where my gloves normally sat. My fingers stuck a little against the gluey texture of the flux.

"Well, Lalna? What's so important that it takes precedence over my ritual?" She demanded, glaring at me like it was my fault the letter had come in.

"This." I replied, passing her the note.

"Lalna, you know I hate reading." She told me, passing it back to me.

"Fine. It reads: A meeting has been planned for the members of Tekkit-Topia and anyone who is visiting at this time, 2 days from now. Come to the Captive Creeper for transportation. Weapons and spells are to be left at home. Attendance is required, and expected. There's no signature." Kim frowned.

"Figure it was Rythian?"

"It could be... but I feel like we should go." I told her. She nodded carefully.

"That sounds like something you would say, Lalna. Are we going defenseless?"

"Sure. No one's gonna want to touch us anyways!" She glared at me.

"Lalna! You look like someone punched you in the face! That's it! I'm the one no one will want to touch."

"Whatever. Yeah, we'll go defenseless. I hate to admit it, but Rythian's got more honor than I do. He won't kill us without giving us a fighting chance."

"And Zoeya?" I froze.

"Kim… there's something you should know." I choked on the words. I'd never wanted to tell Kim what I'd done to Blackrock, and, as consequence, Rythian's apprentice. The truth was a punch to the gut. Zoeya was dead because of me.

"What is it, Lalna?"

"Zoeya… isn't a problem to worry about." Kim frowned.

"How not? She's Rythian's apprentice. Surely she'd side with him!"

"Zoeya is… she's…"

"Spit it out, Lalna." Kim snapped, already looking horrified to know what I'd done.

"Zoeya's not around anymore." STUPID! Why couldn't I just tell Kim?

"And that means?"

"Zoeya is dead. Because of me."

"WHAT?" Kim shrieked. "Lalna, what the hell did you do? Why would you do something like that?"

"I didn't mean to! I never meant for the nuke to go off!" I cried, my stomach twisting with guilt.

"A nuke? Explain, Lalna. Now." Kim ordered, her voice cold as ice. Tears shone in her eyes. Zoeya and Kim had been really good friends before the whole Tekkit mess.

"I-I was afraid. Sjin and I, we accidentally set of a red-matter bomb, in the old Tekkit world. No one really cared, besides Rythian. He promised us that we would pay for it. That our act required justice and retribution. Sjin and I had different ideas on how to deal with Rythian's threats." I took a deep breath. "Mine was to plant a nuke under Blackrock Hold."

"What?" Kim demanded, looking appalled.

"I wasn't going to set it off! But, I didn't hear from Rythian for a while after I told him about the nuke. Then, one day, my portal gun transported me to a sort of prison, in a crater, surrounded by TNT. Rythian told me the crater we were in was where his castle used to be, and I could press my f*cking button all I wanted. He could have killed me, but instead he just had me make a pact of non-aggression, saying that he wanted this over and he'd already lost more than he ever wanted to lose. Zoeya's been dead for close to a year now."

"I don't believe this! Almost a year! Why are you just telling me this now?" She yelled, then paused for a minute before startling me with the next phrase. "You lied to me! Lalna, you lied to me! When I first crashed in your stupid fountain! Ugh! Why did I have to land in the house of my best friend's murderer?"

I didn't process the whole statement at once. "When- how did I lie to you?"

"I told you that Sips blew me up, and you laughed and said you would never do that! Meanwhile, you'd already done that exact thing, not once, but twice. I can't believe this! I always knew you were capable of murder, but I thought you were more human than to actually commit it!" Kim turned around and ran back to her tower. I stood in place,  
stung. I'd never meant to be a murderer. It had all just happened so fast!

Two days from then, Kim was willing to speak to me again, though not without a bit of resentment. We were on our way to the Captive Creeper, completely weaponless. I felt sick with guilt and fear. Who had planned this? What if it wasn't Rythian? What if it was worse? Could any threat be worse than the mage?

"There's our portal!" Kim announced before stepping into it. I followed after her, materializing in a very dark, dingy room. The portal disappeared after I stepped through.

"Lalna. I thought I might see you here." I jumped at the sound of Rythian's voice. His purple eyes glowed in the darkness.

"I can say the same for you, Rythian. Very elegantly set up, this meeting is." I told him.

"Are you saying I planned this? Because I was pretty sure it was you. And why would the transportation be a _portal? _I'm still not a fan of science." He snapped in return.

"Well-"

"Boys, stop fighting." Kim told us, cutting me off.

"We aren't fighting." I argued.

"Okay, new way of saying that. Both of you, shut up." I jumped at the new voice. Another person walked out from behind Rythian, barely visible, though some sorts of lights flashed around where her arm would be. "And this darkness is getting really annoying. So..." She dropped something on the floor, which was approximately as bright as a redstone torch. I glanced at the girl. She was wearing a white lab coat rather like mine, green knee-high boots, a green glove over her left hand, and a pair of gold goggles were perched on her head. A green view screen glowed over her left eye, and her right arm was a sort of mechanical prosthetic. Her red hair shone in the light, and her blue eye was bright and humorous. Kim caught on a second before I did.

"Zoeya!" She shrieked, running up and giving Rythian's apprentice a hug. "You're alive!" Zoeya frowned.

"Why wouldn't I be alive? Lalna only planted three nukes! I eat nukes for breakfast!" Rythian chuckled as she said that.

"But," I began, "Rythian, you, you said you'd-"

"Already almost lost more than I ever wanted to lose. Not actually lost, just almost lost, Lalna. FYI, If Zoeya had died, I wouldn't have let you escape. Make no mistake of that." Rythian warned. I paled a bit.

"I can't believe you thought you killed me with three nukes! Geez, Lalna." Zoeya scoffed. Kim giggled and finally released her friend from the bear hug.

"More serious topic, though it is great to know I didn't kill you, Zoeya. If I didn't plan this, and you didn't plan this, who did?" I asked. Rythian shrugged. Kim and Zoeya glared at me.

"Nice to know that we're involved in this conversation, Lalna." Zoeya told me. Kim just giggled again.

"Rythian, is it just me, or should we separate our apprentices before they go completely crazy?" Rythian just burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" I demanded.

"So... after almost a year, Kim's still just your _apprentice_, is she? Is apprentice code for something?" I blushed.

"Rythian, like you aren't guilty of the exact same thing." Zoeya told him.

"I never called you my apprentice!"

"I didn't know if you two were together yet, so I just stuck with apprentice in case it was an awkward topic..."

"Are you speaking from experience, Lalna?" Zoeya teased.

"No..." I answered weakly.

"Aw, leave him alone. He's just embarrassed about having his relationship on display." Rythian declared.

"And you aren't?" I challenged.

"Hell no! I already got past that when both Nilesy and Ravs said they knew it was coming before we did." Rythian told me. I sighed.

"Fail, Rythian. Fail."

"Like you were any better."

"Okay! Changing the subject! How the hell do we get out?" I announced.

"No clue. Magic isn't an option, and all the supplies Zoeya and I brought disappeared when we first went through the portal. We're screwed." Suddenly, I realized that behind the humor, Rythian's eyes held a hint of fear. Maybe even terror.

What was the mage scared of?

**Yeah! I'm done! LOL! **


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2! Finally! After a million years! (LOL not) But it feels like a long time. A couple weeks for sure. I've been working on other stuff, and just relaxing instead of writing. Sorry, but it is the winter holidays, and I've been going to Christmas get-togethers. Also, I have about 5 chapters on _paper, _just not on the computer yet. That's what going to visit relatives in a different province/state whatever you want to call it is good for. That and cute baby cousins. Shuffling Queen's Album called 'Icon'. Really good music is required for writing, and I'm not _always _listening to Area 11, 30 Seconds to Mars, The Yogscast or Ghost Cassette. WE WILL ROCK YOU!**

**Sjin's POV**

Minty and I walked slowly up to the portal near the door to the Captive Creeper.

"Okay Minty. You know the plan." I muttered, changing my mining laser to full power. It was rather windy, and Minty's brown dress was flapping around her knees.

"I hate the plan. It's so violent." She hesitated. "Even for us." I had to laugh as she said that.

"It's our best shot at surviving." I told the blond haired girl. She glared at me.

"_Your _best shot at surviving, Sjin." She snapped in return. "_I_ never did anything to anyone off."

"Rythian-" Minty shook her head.

"Stop right there, Sjin. We have no real proof that this was Rythian's plan." Minty interjected. I sighed.

"Who else would have planned this?" I demanded. My logic made sense... to me.

"Lalna, Xephos, Ridge, Nilesy, Sips,-"

"Really? You think my boss planned this?" I asked, slightly upset. What if Sips was responsible for this?

"It could be! So that means your: "Kill first, ask questions later" plan doesn't work."

"Just do it!" I snapped. She wouldn't. She was violent, but not without a good reason. And she couldn't see the good reason that we had. She couldn't see the threat.

However, the same could not be said for me.

I had made my plan. And I would follow it. Without hesitation.

**Lalna's POV**

_What was the mage scared of?_

_Should I be worried? _I wondered. Anything that could scare Rythian should probably terrify me. But the room was empty, except for the strange light Zoeya had dropped, and us.

But Rythian wasn't scared of us. I knew that. I was slightly scared of him, at least, I had been since the nuke went off, but he wasn't scared of us. Unless it was the flux...

Whatever.

"Lalna! Portal!" Kim called. I'd been so distracted that I hadn't even heard it appear. Who was coming this time?

Rythian reached for a sword that wasn't there. He sighed and turned to Zoeya.

"Got any chocolate milk? Your light thing stayed in your bag, so...

"No, but I did a bit of an update, and I don't need milk anymore!" The red head told him. It was then that I realized that she was pretty much dressed exactly like me. Weird.

Rythian looked sceptical, but didn't question her. Zoeya pointed her arm towards the blue-rimmed portal, just as a blond girl ran through it, shrieking a warning.

"Get down! Sjin's got a mining laser!" Minty told us.

"What?" Kim asked.

"Just listen!" Minty told her. I dropped like a stone. I knew exactly what a mining laser could do to someone.

"Sjin!" Minty called, as soon as there was activity around the portal.

"Minty, move! Get out of the way!" Sjin told her. Suddenly, everybody else hit the ground as well.

"Not gonna hap-" Minty was cut off by Sjin, a crazy streak of orange and grey, jumping through the portal and shoving her out of the way, before firing his laser wildly through the room. One came so close to hitting me, I heard my hair sizzle and burn. I thought that would be the worst exposure, until I heard a muffled shriek of pain. Someone, I didn't know who, had been hit.

"Sjin! Calm down!" Minty scolded, running up to him and struggling to wrench the laser out of his hand.

"Yeah, man!" I added. "Also, how'd the laser stay in your hand even after you went though the portal?"

"Same way Zoeya's light did!" Kim answered, sitting up and brushing off her red silk dress.

_I wonder who's hurt. _I thought. _We have no medical supplies, in fact, other than Zoeya's weird light and the laser, we have no supplies at all, and virtually no way of healing a burn wound._ The portal, of course, was gone.

"Okay! Laser is no longer a problem!" Minty exclaimed, finally taking the laser from Sjin's hand.

"Good. Time for role call!" Zoeya told us, sitting up. The rest of us followed, suit, though no one stood. Sjin and Minty, in fact, sat down to join us. Kind of like some sort of weird tea party.

"Who's injured?" Zoeya began. "Lalna?"

"Nope!" I answered. "Came close!"

"Kim?"

"Wasn't me!" She replied, shaking her head, causing her raven-black hair to fly all around her.

"Minty?"

"I'm fine." She hissed. "No thanks to Sjin."

"Rythian?" I called, already knowing what the answer would be.

"I'll be fine." He muttered. I rolled my eyes. I had called it, all right. That mage was stubborn as hell.

"Cut the heroic crap, Rythian. I know perfectly well what a mining laser can do." I told him. His eyes glowed.

"I know what they can do as well! And I'm telling you that I'm fine!" He insisted.

"Then stand up and prove it." I told him, scrambling to my feet. The mage readily copied my actions. I couldn't even tell where he was injured. His purple-trimmed coat might have been covering it, if the wound was on his leg... but surely he wouldn't have been able to stand up if that was it? And I would see blood on the white fabric... but the heat of the laser might have sealed the injury. Either way, I couldn't figure out where he was hurt.

But Zoeya, who was behind him, could.

"Rythian," She began slowly. "Turn around. Lalna should see that. He'll know better then I will, about that."

"That's not necessary." He told her. She shook her head. Kim glanced up.

"Um, Rythian? Turn around. You're _not _fine." Kim told him.

"Lalna, I hope you know how to treat burns." Zoeya added. Rythian rolled his eyes, counter-clockwise, and listened to the girls.

Then the wound was painfully obvious.

**Martyn's POV**

"So, are you ready for your first Tekkit-Topia meeting?" I asked my fiancé. Kaeyi nodded.

"No one's gonna die, right?" She asked, shuddering. I shook my head.

"Well... Kim, Zoeya, Minty, Lomadia, Ravs, Nilesy, Toby, you and I should be safe. If Sparkles* and Beckii are here, they'll be fine as well. There's no telling _what _Rythian, Sjin, Sips and Lalna will do. Xephos and Honeydew are just as unpredictable. So, _they _might die. And Zoeya, Kim. Lomadia and Minty might wind up involved because of the others that I just mentioned. So, we'll be fine! As well as Nilesy and Ravs." I answered.

"That's reassuring." Kaeyi grumbled, pulling on the sleeves of her leather jacket.

"Almost nobody ever dies. Plus, I didn't plan it, so it's not my fault." I told her.

"I know. I just don't really want to go if someone's gonna die! Somethings should be left unseen."

"Like Thestrals." I joked.

"Yeah." She yawned. "Anyways, let's go feed the kitties!" We raced down the stairs underneath our tent to wear Kiki and Pascal spent their nights.

"Here, kitties!" Kaeyi called. The little Maus sat up, blinking sleepily.

"Were you to still sleeping?" I asked, laughing.

"Sleepy little kitties." Kaeyi giggled. "Are you hungry?"

The answer to that was yes. Kiki and Pascal jumped out of their beds and came at a dead run. Kaeyi set down their food and let them eat.

"So, we've got 'til 2:30 to be at the Captive Creeper. We should go get Toby. You have told him about the meeting, right?"Kaeyi asked, looking at me worriedly.

"Thanks for trusting me. Of course I told him. It depends on whether he remembers it. Or, was he listening?" I answered.

"Well, we should go check." Kaeyi said.

"I guess." I agreed, and we walked next door, to a tent that was identical to ours. Of course, ours had a basement with outdoor access, but they used to be the same.

"Toby?" I called, unzipping the zipper around the door.

"Yeah?" Toby asked, pulling his black sweater over his bare chest. I rolled my eyes. Had everyone but us still been in bed, either sleeping or resting?

"You need to be ready to leave for that meeting by 2:00, okay?" Kaeyi told him. Toby frowned.

"Meeting?"

"Yeah. You remember, the one we got a letter about 2 days ago?" I reminded him.

"Oh yeah!" He exclaimed. "I'll be ready!"

"We'll come warn you at about 1:30." Kaeyi promised.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now, I'm going mining. Anybody wanna come?" I asked.

"No, I don't want to accidentally find lapis before you do." Toby answered, only half joking.

I chucked. "Thanks."

"You're welcome!" Toby said, pulling his cover back over his head. I grabbed the nearest book and lobbed it at him. I heard a muffled squawk of surprise, and I quickly got Kaeyi and myself out of the tent, zipping the door shut behind us.

"Do you want to come? Or am I going alone? I won't hurt you over lapis, I promise." I asked the pink-haired girl.

"I'll come, I guess."

We grabbed our pics and set off for the mines.

"Martyn! We need to go in an hour!" Kaeyi called.

"Alright. Let's head back to the surface." I answered. I had found gold, tin, emeralds and pretty much everything, except lapis lazuli. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed.

"Oh, and Martyn?" Kaeyi continued as I ran to her side, sweat dripping down my forehead and slicing my hair to my head. "Are you looking for some of this?" She help up a handful of the blue gemstone.

"Maybe..." I admitted.

"Oh, here you go." She handed me the stones.

"Thanks Kaeyi!" I said happily, giving her a kiss.

"Come one. I've got to do my make-up still, and you have to change, Stinky." I smiled, puTting the lapis in my pocket and pulling Kaeyi into a bear hug, shoving her face into my sweat-soaked chest.

"Do I stink?" I asked, laughing.

"Yes! Eww, you're all sweaty!"She squeaked out through her giggles.

"So are you!" I told her.

"Okay, let go of me, Stinky. I can't breathe!" I released her from my hug and she dramatically gasped for air.

"Okay, Kaeyi. Let's go get Toby and get ready." She nodded and took off running up the stairs of our mineshaft, leaving me to catch up.

"Nervous, Kaeyi?" I teased, standing in front of the portal.

"Yes." She answered, nodding her head up and down and making her hair bob with it.

"Don't be. It's likely to pass uneventfully." Toby nodded.

"Your worst problem will be trying to keep up with the arguments, or not falling asleep. If Lalna and Sjin aren't in a yelling mood, which isn't likely, for Lalna, it'll be pretty quiet in there. Rythian doesn't like to raise his voice." Toby assured me. Then he shoved me out of the way, which I was expecting, it was a regular event with out entrance to these meetings, I was actually surprised he hadn't pushed me through; and hopped through the portal.

"If you're scared, don't show it. You might get out before the devil even knows you're there." I told Kaeyi before walking through the doorway thing myself.

The moment I got there, I knew it wouldn't pass uneventfully.

**I MADE IT TO 2004 WORDS HOLY SHIT I THOUGHT I NEVER WOULD! I THOUGHT THIS CHAPTER WAS DOOMED TO FOREVER BE BELLOW 2000 WORDS!**

**Disclaimer: **

**Thestrals: J K Rowling**

_**If you're going through...even knows you're there**_**: Rodney Atkins, I f You're Going Through Hell**

**Characters and basic stuff: The Yogscast**

**ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!  
~Featherflower**


	3. Chapter 3

**...Everything that's a pain in my life is called Toby.**

**~YOGSCAST Martyn**

**So, I have this already... yay! (Maybe because they're all already on paper.) Love y'all for reading, behold, chapter 3! If you get sick, thank my health teacher. Yay for First Aid! Burns are nasty, don't look them up in Google Images. (What are you talking about? I didn't do that? Don't lie! *Barfs guts out* Don't play with hot things and lasers kids!) Again, listening to Icon! I WANT IT ALL, AND I WANT IT NOW! (And 1985 And Welcome To The Black Parade. Oh, and MCR. And Bowling for Soup, Black Veil Brides, All Time Low, and Queen and a bunch of other things, of course.) As much as I hate the Mortal Instruments, I do owe them for the nail polish thing. Oh yeah, and the purple has nothing to do with Rythian. At least not for the burn. And I've got to make stuff up fro Kim and Lalna, cuz they're on a different world or something.**

** Lalna's POV**

The edges were blackened and dry. Most of it was yellowish white, except for a few purple-red spots, and the streak where the laser had been focused on, on which the skin and subcutaneous tissue was burned away, and the scant remnants of it and beginning of muscle were visible in the middle.

"Rythian, I have to tell you this. You are _not _fine, and you are _not _going to be fine."

"No, Lalna, you don't unders-"

"OH NOTCH!" I turned around to see Toby staring past me at Rythian.

"Um..." I began.

"Holy shit, Rythian." Martyn yelped. " Kaeyi's gonna flip!" Rythian chuckled, turning around and standing next to wall.

"No one who didn't already see that even has to know." He announced. I sighed.

"It's not gonna work like that!" I warned. "And Zoeya, stand next to him. Watch for hypothermia."

"_Hypo_thermia? He got burned, Lalna! Not frozen!" The girl argued, walking towards the mage.

"Yes, but with a large injury, hypothermia is the worry, because the skin helps regulate temperature."

"I don't know why you're fussing. I barely feel anything!" Rythian told me.

"That's not uncommon for third degree burns. It destroyed the nerve endings and therefore, you can't really feel it. But it _will _cause problems. Soon. Sit down, and stay warm. That's all I can tell you. We'll bind it if we get something clean enough to do so. As for water, I wouldn't risk it yet if we had it. Too much of a risk of hypothermia or shock."

Rythian looked like he was going to say something, but shut his mouth and sat down, Zoeya next to him, when Kaeyi walked through the portal.

"Hey guys!" Kaeyi called cheerfully. No one answered. Blank stares from around the room. "Um, hello?"

"Hello." Rythian said, a little too enthusiastically. Kaeyi didn't seem to notice. I wondered why we were making such an effort to spare her from the knowledge that someone was injured when it was clearly going to come up. First of all, it had to be cleaned, soon. But we had no water... so that would have to wait.

"So, I'm assuming that one of you planned this?" Martyn asked.

"No!" We all chorused.

"Okay, so the mysterious planning person has yet to appear." Kaeyi confirmed.

"Seems like it. What we need to do is figure out how to get out." Rythian told her.

"Yeah." Sjin agreed. Minty handed me the laser.

"Disable this. Make sure it can't be fixed." She ordered. I complied, pulling out the power core and smashing it under my foot before realizing my mistake.

"SHIT!" I yelled, throwing the casing of the laser at the wall. Rythian shifted out of the way, effectively ruining our plan of "Don't tell Kaeyi." However, we had bigger problems now.

"What is it, Lalna?" Martyn asked.

"That was our way out!" I answered, staring at the smashed core on the ground.

"What do you mean?"

"That laser would have burned through the walls like... um,"

"Like it did to me." Rythian offered.

"Yeah! Pretty much." I agreed.

"Well Lalna, if anyone's to blame, it's me." Minty offered. "I told you to wreck it."

"But I shouldn't have listened!" _People are going to die if we don't get out! _I thought. _Starting with Rythian!_

"Wait." Sjin said suddenly. "We still have a chance. Minty, do you have your laser?" The blond shook her head, the purple ends of her hair forming a violet circle around her head.

"It disappeared when I walked into the room. I have," She checked her supplies. "Some apples, some cobblestone, and a few pieces of steak. Oh, and a diamond." She frowned. "That's strange. I wasn't carrying a diamond."

"Well, I have a torch, so I'll add that to the light source that's already in here." Sjin announced, hooking the torch on the wall.

"Okay, very cool. Food, definitely a bonus. Martyn, Kaeyi and Toby? What have you got?" Rythian asked.

"I've got a ruby sword, some blue dye, and some lapis." Martyn replied.

"Um... I have fish." Kaeyi told us.

"Toby?"

"A flint and steel and some TNT. Hey, that could get us out!" He cried, putting down a bunch of it.

"Toby, wait!" Martyn cried as the boy lit the fuse and ran over to where the rest of us had clumped.

"Oh, shit." He breathed. "Sorry guys." I squeezed my eyes shut as the explosion went off, along with a lot of screaming. My arm was grazed by a bit of burning shrapnel, and I did my best not to cry out, but to little avail. I knew my burn wouldn't be the worst. At least Rythian, the already injured one, was the farthest away from the explosion. Unfortunately, Toby was the closest.

"Would everyone _please _stop burning stuff?" I asked, frustratedly glancing at my grazed arm. Toby coughed up some smoke, and then collapsed.

"Toby!" Martyn cried, grabbing the boy's arm and trying to hold him up. I raced over, seeing as how I was clearly the only doctor in this room... or maybe Zoeya counted too.

"Toby." I muttered. The boy groaned, and the Sapling Prince guided him onto the ground. His face was covered in ash and blood, as with his arms.

"Oh, dear goodness." I muttered. "Can the next person that shows up be Nilesy? We need water. For drinking, of course, and for washing wounds. Second degree, I can do that. Maybe in ten minutes, just in case? His sweatshirt should keep him warm."

"It looks like a surface injury. A few scrapes from the debris, yeah, like I said, maybe first or second degree burns. He should be fine." _That is, if we had water. The most important thing about burns is to submerge them in cold water!_ I thought to myself.

"Lalna, don't bother trying to lie to me." Martyn whispered. "I know how to treat burns. Rythian and Toby are going to have some major issues pretty soon." I nodded.

"Just hope and pray that the weird thing doesn't take Nilesy's 'portable pools.' away from him." I told him. "And actually, Rythian I'm not sure about. There is no real way of healing those without skin grafts. That's the only thing for third degree burns. I clearly can't do that. And antibiotics, just in case.

"Lalna. Will he die if we don't get healing supplies?" The elf asked.

"Rythian... probably. Of some sort of complication. Toby? No. It'll likely scar though. In fact, it probably will scar, just due to our lack of healing supplies. But it will definitely scar if we can't heal it. Then again, unless you do skin transplants, the only healing for burns is water and bandages."

"So he won't die." The man clarified.

"No. He won't die." I confirmed.

"But Rythian might." He repeated. I nodded.

"Sadly, almost definitely." I was glad we'd had the good sense to whisper. I didn't need Zoeya freaking out. The sad truth was, Rythian probably wouldn't flip out. Just Zoeya.

"This was a terrible idea." He sighed.

"The question is still: Who's idea was it? And was this their intention?" I told him.

"If I ever find the son of a bitch who set this up, and it turns out this was intentional, he's going to wish he was never born." Martyn promised, glancing around the room. His blue eyes were hard and angry.

"And I know you won't be alone. I think there are more than one of us who like to get our hands on him. Or her." I replied. Louder, I called, "Okay, who's injured?"

"You." Rythian supplied in his melodic accent. I rolled my eyes, not bothering to glance at my arm.

"I think I know _that, _Rythian." I snapped. "Anyone else?"

"I'm a little singed, but other than that, I don't think so." Sjin offered, dusting off his orange and white suit. His face was a little red, but he'd be fine.

"Thank you. Will you live?" I asked, rubbing my gloved hands down my lab coat, and only succeeding in smearing soot on my gloves and down my coat. I guessed that was the cleanest they were going to get. I would have just taken the gloves off, bu there was the flux to consider.

Minty snorted. "We're all going to have to live. Even Toby and Rythian." Toby moaned as the girl said his name.

"Toby! You awake?" I asked.

"Ouch." Was his only reply.

"Man up, Bitch." Sjin said, quoting Xephos. Minty frowned at him, clearly knowing what Sjin's reaction to that kind of an explosion would be.

"I hate that term." Kim protested, glaring at the farmer. Sjin stuck his tongue out at her. My girlfriend picked at her nails.

"Oh, damn!" She cried. "I chipped my nail polish. See?" She stuck her purple-tainted middle finger in Sjin's face.

"You picked a feisty one, Lalna." He remarked, going cross-eyed staring at her finger.

"You started it." She told him, blowing her long hair out of her face and taking her finger out of the man's face. I snickered, then turned back to the boy on the floor.

"What the hell did I do this time, Martyn?" He asked.

"You blew up a bunch of TNT at close range to yourself." The man told him. Toby groaned and blew at the hair that was covering his eyes.

"Well, remind me not to do that again." He told Martyn. The Sapling Prince had to laugh at that.

"Okay, Toby? I think you're going to be fine." I paused and poked a finger at his arm. The finger of the glove stuck a bit, no surprise.

"Hey! OW! That hurts!" Toby complained.

"Sorry, Toby/ It's got to be done. And we have cold water... not that we should really try that... well maybe you'd be fine... I don't know. We'll figure it out if anybody brings water. And actually, Martyn, you do this. It'll be easier for you to tell." I told him. "Tell me how sticky his arm is."

Martyn complied. "Not much."

"Good. Toby, you can sit in the back with Rythian and Zoeya." I turned to the ginger. "You know the symptoms of shock, right?"

"Not really..." She admitted as the boy made his way to the back wall. Kim and Minty went to investigate the hole the TNT had blown.

"Clammy or pale skin, weakness, bluish lips or fingernails, lack of alertness." I paused. "Honestly, I'm more worried about shock for Toby than Rythian. And for goodness sake DON'T let them freeze. I mean it." Rythian still didn't seem to understand the severity of this, though he was curled into the rescue position. The mushroom lover nodded, and I turned to join Kim and Minty.

**Zoeya's POV**

"Are you sure you're okay?" I whispered to Rythian, a concerned frown fixing itself on my face.

"Yes, Zoeya. I'm not in any pain, and I tend to heal quickly, even from major things, Also, I don't really know how bad this is, because I can't feel it!" His snapping was quite refreshing compared to Toby's moaning. The boy's wounds were causing him pain, and we really couldn't do anything about it. I'd wrapped my cape around his shoulders, and was pressed against Rythian's side in an effort to keep them warm, though Toby's face was burning up and I still wasn't quite sure how _burns _would cause hypothermia.

"Toby? You good too?" The teen swallowed.

"Yeah, just hot." I smiled.

"Apparently, that's good." I told him. He rolled his eyes, which were barely visible under his hair.

"I think Lalna's crazy." I giggled.

"I _know _Lalna's crazy." This provoked a slight chuckle from the mage beside me. His chin was rested on his knees, and in spite of what was going on, he seemed to be in good humour. That wasn't always the case.

"Well, did we blast our way out?" I called.

"Nope!" Kim replied, climbing out of the hole, kimono smeared with soot and ash. Her white pants had turned a blackened shade of grey, and a lot of dust had stuck to her face and arms, due to the texture of the flux. She glanced at her hands. "Oh, Notch! That was a dumb idea."

"What is it, Kim?" Lalna asked, the scientist and bartender hopping out to join the rest of us.

"The flux is sticky, mate. We're _covered _in dust!" She laughed.

"The _what_?" Minty asked. "Is that the purple stuff? Is it contagious?"

"We honestly have no idea." Lalna admitted. "It did start with just Kim, but I only turned purple after we went back to the remnants of my first castle., which was destroyed by Honeydew and the Flux."

"That's why you built a new one that seemed so much closer to Sipsco." Sjin remarked.

"Well, we couldn't just use the same site... even if the castle _was _partially destroyed and not there anymore, it was too infected. But then we went and found and destroyed what was left of it, I got fluxed a but later!" He explained, rubbing at the dust that covered his wrist.

Minty edged a little bit away from Lalna and his apprentice, provoking another laugh from Rythian.

"This came from Thaumo- thaumininini- thauninonomonomon- thau-mo-no-mi-con, right?" He asked, stumbling over the word.

"The last one, yes." Lalna agreed. "I don't know what the others were." My boyfriend may have blushed, but it was hard to tell.

"I can't actually pronounce it. Not properly." He admitted. Lalna snorted. "Anyways, when we get out, I can probably help you figure it out." the scientist looked dubious and even a little disappointed for some reason, but his expression soon turned to shock.

"Did my nemesis, Rythian, just offer me help?" He gasped.

"Mostly because your girlfriend shouldn't have to walk around like that. You're fine."

"Everyone says that! I'm fluxed too!" Lalna protested.

"Not as much as I am, Duncan! You've got a little smattering! I'm more than half purple!" Kim replied.

"They sound like us!" I joked. Rythian smirked and put his arm around my shoulder.

"They do, don't they?"

**Thanks to everyone who helped me, such as SpiritedandLoyal and EndingFury, for their decisions, (Do you remember what you did now?) and being awesome, and Mage-Pages, for being awesome and having song suggestions that will be in the next Mushbury chapters and anything I forgot. Have a wonderful day!  
~Featherflower**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Fuck Buddies  
~90% of Cornerstone**

**Hey y'all! I didn't plan this whatsoever, so no playlist. Or idea for  
the chapter... so there'll be fluff and pain and new people, cuz  
that's my default HELP mode. Lots of alt rock and a song called What  
The Fuck by Fun, and C'mon by Panic! At the Disco and Fun. And the  
Ballad Of Mona Lisa (Panic! At The Disco) Lots of fun and panicking.**

**Last chapter all summer, I'm moving out the my wifi-less cottage. Hopefully I'll have a few chapters by September, if I don't delete them by accident. (Speaking from experience.)**

**RYTHIAN WHY BE YOU SO OFF-CANON? WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? WHAT  
HAVE I EVER- never mind I understand now. Fair enough.**

Rythian's POV

"Portal!" I called, lifting my head off my knees to see who was  
coming through. Zoeya scrambled to her feet, and my side felt cold  
after having her warmth against it for so long. I wanted to stand, but  
figured that I'd just get yelled at, and it wasn't worth the fight.

"Well? Who is it?" Toby asked, saving me having to.

"Hey there!" Nilesy's voice answered our question. "What's going on?" He asked. I thought about it for a moment, and  
decided I didn't want to answer.

"Lots of stuff." Zoey replied. "A couple accidents, a bit of  
bickering, lots of teasing."

"An accident?" Nilesy repeated. Toby groaned.

"Rythian, I'll keep my mouth shut if you shut yours." He begged. "We  
don't need to get into this again."

"Fine. And Toby, stand up and go see if Nilesy has any water."

"Hey, Rythian! I can hear you! I never go anywhere without a portable  
pool or two!" The pool boy replied, holding up a bucket filled to the  
brim with water.

"Good to know. Now... we can't pay you, but if I have to I'll give  
you an IOU, Toby needs it. We had an accident with some TNT." I  
explained.

"And a mining laser!" Lalna added, glaring a bit at the orange-suited  
man. It was rather strange to have my former enemy defending me,  
inadvertently. Sjin blushed a little as the scientist mentioned that.  
Honestly, it served him right. He could have killed someone!

Namely me, but that was sort of beside the point. Toby grabbed the  
bucket of water from him and brought it back to where he'd been  
sitting. Watching the scene from a low perspective was starting to  
make me sick.

Toby was staring at the bucket rather aimlessly, and Zoeya wasn't  
really paying attention.

"Here." I ripped a piece of my scarf from the end, removing one of  
the glowing purple eyes, and handed it to him. "Soak that and press it  
on your burns."

"What about you?"

"You heard Lalna. I can't put anything on it." I replied, wondering  
how long that would last. I understood wounds, though burns weren't  
exactly my speciality. It was fine for now... but only for now.

"That seems weird, but okay!" Toby muttered, dipping the cloth in the  
water. Zoeya snapped out of her distraction and helped him press the  
cold cloth to his arms. Toby sighed in relief.

"Glad to hear that's helping!" My redheaded appentice smiled as she said that, slowly moving the 'cloth' up the boy's arm.

"So, what's going on?" Nilesy asked.

"Absolutely no one here has an idea." Lalna supplied. "But we have a lot of burn wounds."

"I can tell. How'd that happen?" I went to dismiss my own as nothing, but Kim spoke first.

"Sjin shot Rythian with a mining laser, and Toby blew up a bunch of TNT and got caught in the blast." I sighed.

"Oh good gods!" The poolboy gasped. "You've been here how long?"

"A few hours. And I assure you, it's noth-" Zoeya's hand was suddenly pressed against my mouth, cutting off my sentence.

"Saying that over and over again isn't going to make it true!" She told me. "So stop!" I pushed her hand away.

"Fine."

"Okay, I'm assuming it's pretty bad." Nilesy said.

"Never assume, it makes an ass out of you and me." Someone said automatically. I didn't see who. "But you are right."

"Oh gods. Good thing I had a portable pool."

"How many do you have?" I called.

"Three." Several sighs of relief. Three buckets of water, even with one for injuries, would sustain this many people for a little while.

If it stayed with this many people.

There was no supper or anything, as we agreed to save the food until we needed it. No one else arrived.

We had a few conversations, mostly about nothing, and slowly, everyone started drifting off to sleep, exhausted from the stress of the day.

Except me. I couldn't sleep. My eyes would close, but never for longer than more than a minute or two.

In fact, the first time I may have actually drifted off, Lalna walked over to where I was sitting. "Ryth!"

"What do you want?" I demanded, trying not to move, since Zoeya had fallen asleep buried into my side, as per usual. Lalna smirked when he saw that.

"How many beds are there in your castle again?" He teased.

"None, cuz you blew it up!"

"Your knew castle." Lalna specified, still smiling.

"Two." I replied, grateful that Zoeya had made a guest bedroom in the new Stronghold as well.

"How many of those are regularly used?"

"If this is what you came over to talk about, go away!" That made the answer painfully obvious, but I was pretty sure that the scientist had already figured out that the answer was one.

"No, but this is interesting." He laughed.

"Oh, go snog Kim or something! You have no right to criticize me!" Normally, I didn't use Lalna's slang, such as snogging, and I wasn't sure why I decided to do so now.

"Okay! Fine! I came to warn you about something." I frowned.

"What would that be?"

"Do not let Zoeya use any of the attachments on her arm. Science doesn't run off of nothing, and she has no fuel. It would literally run off her own energy and eventually kill her." I felt my eyes nearly bug out of their sockets.

"I won't!" I promised, glancing at the sleeping girl.

"Good. I figured that would be a good thing to tell you." The blond smirked again. "Don't think you'd like to lose her."

"Again." It was more of a joke, since I hadn't really lost her, Lalna had just thought that was the case.

"Rythian!"

"What?" I smiled, with as much innocence as I could muster.

"Ugh. I'm leaving now. Remember what I said!" The scientist walked back towards Kim, stepping over several other people in the process.

I closed my eyes and managed to sleep.

ZOEYA

It was no lighter when I woke up than it had been when I went to sleep, which was slightly bothering. I supposed I would just have to get used to it. Rythian was still asleep with his arm around my shoulders. His mask was partially askew, not enough to show much of his face, but I quickly pulled it straight before anyone else noticed and saw something I hadn't. He flinched, clearly feeling my fingers close to his face.

"Zo?" He muttered, sitting up and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He seemed no worse off than he had been yesterday, which was a relief.

"We're the first ones awake." I told him.

"How's Toby?" He asked, suppressing a yawn. I glanced to the side. The boy's skin was slightly more red, but that was perfectly normal with burns, if I remembered correctly.

"He's fine, what about you?" I asked automatically, remembering the terrible wound.

"Decent? I don't know, I can't see it." The mage muttered, twisting around to expose his back.

One glance had me freezing in horror.

"Ooh, Rythie… your coat and shirt are /melted/ to your back." I managed, trying to focus on that and not the wound itself.

"That's great." He muttered, mutter become a hiss of pain when I prodded at the burned clothes. "Zoeya!" He gasped, shying away from my fingers.

"Sorry!" I whispered, feeling a little bad. I was just trying to examine the injury, I hadn't meant to hurt him!

The Mage gritted his teeth. "It's fine. What's the report?"

"I think you need to at least get your coat off, if not your shirt as well." I whispered. "Oh wow that sounds really weird."

He laughed, already pulling at the sleeves of his coat, wincing quite a bit. I reached behind him again and tried to start pulling the melted edges off, but the moment I did so, Rythian gave a sharp cry of pain.

"Sorry!" I whispered, glancing around. His cry didn't seem to have woken anyone.

Though he didn't look like this was true, he shook his head dismissively. "It's fine." His voice was starting to get a growly, irritable tone, which wasn't unusual in the mornings. "I- give me a minute. I'll get it off." He promised, managing to get his coat most of the way off. The mage's eyes squeezed shut and his jaw clenched as he managed to pull most of the burned part off. It made a sickening noise, too.

"We'll have to cut your shirt off, you won't be able to get it off." I realized, as I had watched his back while he struggled with his coat.

"Why not?" Rythian asked, seeming worried.

"You damaged your back. Are you having any difficulty moving your arms?" A look a terror flitted across my master's face, before he managed to get it under control.

"W-what are you talking- what? How do you know that?" He demanded. His voice still seemed anxious.

"The muscles in your back must have been damaged. They should repair themselves, eventually." Rythian didn't seem reassured.

"Well then, go ahead and cut it off." He muttered, turning around properly and giving me access to his back.

I frowned. "Actually, I can't cut it, I'll have to rip it. Nothing to cut it with." Thankfully, many spots on the seam of his shirt were already frayed, making it rather easy to tear the fabric. He winced as I pulled it away from the burn, once the shirt was torn, though he seemed subdued.

Martyn sat up, then. "What happened over there?" He asked. I felt my face flush.

"Not what it looks like." Rythian replied, seeming to just realize that he wasn't just not wearing a shirt, he no longer had a one.

"The mining laser melted his shirt and coat to his back." I explained. The nature spirit nodded.

"That makes sense." He admitted. "I didn't think that- whatever you thought." A snicker across the room, Lalna had sat up.

"I know what they thought you thought!" He called. Now Rythian was blushing too.

"Oh, shut it, Goggles!" He called. I didn't care what he said, he seemed a lot happier than he'd been two minutes ago.

He really shouldn't lose the use of his arms, but it might take a long time for them to work properly again, so I could understand why that freaked him out.

"Wha?" Kaeyi sat up, yawning, her eyes slightly squinty. "What's going on? Rythian!"

"It's not my fault! Also, it's really cold in here." Everyone but him started laughing, waking the rest of the people. Rythian glanced at the wall.

"This sound like déjà vu, but portal!" He called, as more people tumbled into the small room. 


	5. Chapter 5

What happens when 5

Hey guys, it's CloseToSomethingReal here, formerly Featherflower! I'm back and better than ever! (Maybe)

Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again.

~Simon and Garfunkel, The Sound Of Silence

Ryth seemed so flustered, it was impossible not to bug him about his bare chest. Not that it was his fault, but still. The catcalling had woken anyone who was asleep, and the portal was glowing, but not active yet. There wasn't another opening attached to it yet. How it had shown up in the first place, I wasn't sure.

The mage, after calling, had settled back to the way he had been sitting yesterday, which hid his chest pretty well, with his red haired girlfriend pressed into his side. I couldn't deny, it was sort of cute to see them like that. They were clearly a lot more comfortable around each other than Kim and I.

Maybe because they shared the same bed… who knew?

"Lalna, stop staring at me!" Zoeya called. "It's freaking me out!" Heat flooded my face, and I blushed.

"Sorry!" I muttered. Rythian chuckled, clearly eager not to be the embarrassed one anymore.

"Hello there!" I jumped and glanced at the now disappearing portal, from which Ravs and Teep had just appeared.

Rythian probably smiled, it was hard to tell. "Hey, Ravs." He called. "How're you? Also, what time is it?"

"'Bout ten o'clock. Why?" I sighed with relief, not noticing how much not knowing the time had been bothering me until I knew it. "And also, what happened to your clothes?"

"They got melted to my back when Sjin fired a mining laser wildly and managed to hit me. So I had to pull them off." He said simply.

"How long have you been here?" The bartender demanded, looking shocked.

"I believe Rythian and Zoeya have been here since noon yesterday? Lalna and I showed up shortly after that, then Minty and Sjin, then Martyn, Kaeyi and Toby, then Nilesy, and then no one showed up until you two today. So nearly 24 hours." Kim supplied, rubbing at a bit of dust that was stuck to the flux.

"Yikes." Ravs muttered. The green dinosaur shook his head, then motioned to Toby.

"Oh yeah, and on top of Zo- you know what, we'll just put it as Rythian losing his shirt, Toby set off some TNT, but he was really the only one hurt." Rythian blushed scarlet, clearly figuring out what I had been about to say.

"Really Toby? Well done." Ravs chuckled. Teep just sighed and walked over to Zoeya and Rythian, seeming both concerned and confused about what was going on.

"Hiya Tee!" Zoeya said cheerfully, smiling at the green dinosaur. He grinned, toothy maw making it seem more scary than happy.

Rythian, who seemed jumpy since Sjin's attack, flinched at a low, gurgling growl. "Fucking zombies." He muttered, voice dark. As the note had required, none of us were wearing armour, though it likely would have disappeared on entry anyways.

We also had no weapons. Nilesy glanced into the cave that the noise had came from. "Oh fucking hell! Creeper!" He gasped, scrambling away from the lip of the hole.

"And _they're_ here." Rythian said that more quietly, but I still heard him and walked over to where the mage was sitting.

"What are here?" I muttered. He shook his head angrily.

"_Them_. At least _She_ didn't send them this time." He was glaring at the cave.

Helplessly, I turned to Zoeya. "Your boyfriend's talking crazy talk." She glanced at Rythian.

"Rythie?" She said, frowning at the purple eyed man. "What's wrong."

"They're here. Again." Rythian growled.

"That's ridiculous! Surely She wouldn't-" Rythian cut the girl off.

"She didn't send them, they just came."

"Now you're both talking crazy talk!" I complained. Zoeya laughed.

"Endermen. That's what _they_ are." She clarified. I sighed.

"Why couldn't you just say that?" I asked Rythian, who didn't seem to be paying attention.

"They're too fucking loud." He growled. "And they know we can't fight them."

"That's fine, if we don't look at them, they won't attack anyways! Most of the time... Sometimes... Occasionally..." I said, knowing full well that Rythian already knew that.

He sighed. "Not me. If they know I'm here, they'll attack me. Or hide. One of the two." He paused. "And it doesn't sound like they're hiding."

"How can you hear them? I don't hear anything but zombies!" I protested. Rythian sighed.

"Go look for yourself! I can't, that'll just end badly." He suggested. I nodded, still thinking the mage was crazy, and walked to the edge of the pit.

"Oh shit there's a lot of them." I breathed, glancing away from the glowing purpley pink eyes, knowing the creatures would attack if I stared them down. "There's gotta be like, ten."

Rythian swore. "Does any person in here have a weapon?" He called softly, and a few people frowned at him.

"Not for me, I'm not that dumb." He complained. "Geez. There's a shit-ton of mobs in that expanse over there." Rythian pointed to the cave.

"I've got a ruby sword, will that work?"

Martyn called.

"Can your fight with it?" I asked softly, trying not to attract the mobs attention.

Martyn gave me a funny look. "Of course I can." He scoffed. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"Then it'll work, dumbass! Sometimes, you're worse than Toby!" It was a joke, mostly.

"Hey!" Toby protested, but I just laughed, until I heard his next statement. "No one's worse than me!"

"That's true." Kaeyi agreed, laughing. "It's physically and mentally impossible."

The teen looked put out. "Thanks Kaeyi. I hadn't meant for people to agree with me."

"No problem, Toby! Anyways, what's down there?" The pink haired girl asked me.

"A creeper, four zombies, a skeleton and four Endermen."

"Fuck." Rythian swore. "I didn't think there would be that many, but that explains why they're so loud." He looked really pissed off about the fact that those particular mobs were here.

"Ryth, is there something you're not telling us about Endermen? Why are you so worked up about it?" I demanded, and could see from across the room that his Adam's Apple bobbed when the mage swallowed hard.

He seemingly swallowed his voice during that, because he didn't answer.

A fact that no one missed. One of the kinder of us, Kaeyi, frowned. "Rythian, what's wrong?" As she spoke, the rest of us just glared suspiciously at the mage, but for Zoeya and Teep, who seemed to be in the same loop as Rythian.

"Nothing, they j-just annoy me!" Rythian stammered, forming an obvious lie. His eyes were pointed at the floor, purple gaze not meeting anyone else's.

"Rythian, you're a really bad liar." Sjin told him. Zoeya glared at the man.

"Sjin, leave Rythian alone. You've done enough to him already." Sjin immediately looked abashed.

"Besides, aren't I allowed to have some secrets? We've been here for what, a day? A day, and you're already prying into my personal life. Most of you, I couldn't or still can't carry a civil conversation with, and you think you can just demand to know everything about me? Fuck off." Rythian said in a growly, irritated tone. "I don't like Endermen, and they will attack, probably all of us but definitely me if they do not get taken care of."

Silence in the room. Rythian had a point.

"I feel like not knowing this secret could be dangerous to all of us." Sjin muttered.

"Being in this situation is dangerous for all of us." Rythian snapped back. "So just fuck off already." Sjin and I were some of the only ones who could regularly get Rythian to swear, and clearly we'd pissed the mage off enough.

Also, he had a point. Our situation was bad as it was. I wasn't sure I really wanted to know another thing that would make it worse.

"So I've got the sword, what needs to be killed first?" Martyn asked. I expected Rythian to say the Endermen, but he looked at Martyn and said,

"Creepers. Otherwise they sneak up behind you and blow up when you aren't expecting it."

He had a point. Creepers were fucking nuisances. Martyn walked to the edge of the crater and hopped in, only for the zombies to turn around and approach him, same as the creeper. "Oh, fuck."

Sitting at the edge of the crater, I didn't have a ton of options for helping the sapling prince. So, seeing no other option, I jumped into the hole, and ran off for the back edge, attracting one of the zombies, which got it away from Martyn, but also, the shots of the skeleton and one of the Endermen. "Oh, shit! Help!" I called, backing against the wall and desperately trying to punch the mobs away from me. An arrow had pierced right between my shoulder blades and was bleeding sluggishly.

I tried punching the zombie, but all it did was growl and keep on its slow shuffle towards me. The Enderman's claws hadn't yet touched me, but that didn't last long when I felt cold, sharp edges press down on my neck and then rake downwards in what seemed like an endless strike, but lasted barely two seconds.

I whimpered, unable to even scream at this point, figuring this was about the point where something hit too deep and I died, but someone suddenly flew in the corner of my vision, and slammed into the black thing. "Bugger off!" He swore. "He's not the one you're after, I am!"

"Oh, for fucks sake Rythian!" I called, punching the zombie again, but still getting a few deep gouges down my arm as I did so. The skeleton shot again, in the joint of my knee. "You're injured, why the hell are you here?"

"You're welcome," he spat, and I could hear his boots clomping as he avoided the Enderman, and the sounds of the said black beast teleporting. "Oh shit!" Suddenly the mage had dove aside and nearly hit the crater wall. He was panting slightly.

"Normally, I can take these fuckers out. And you're injured too." He gasped, struggling to his feet again, and ran off as the black thing attacked again, as Rythian now held its undivided attention.

"Martyn!" I shouted. "What's up?" It was a while before the blond man answered.

"The other Endermen are after me!" He explained. "I'll be there soo- ow! Son of a gun!" There were a few buzzing noises, and Martyn's footfalls grew louder and seemed more frantically paced. However, I could hear rattling, so he was clearly taking out the skeleton, so I punched the zombie a few more times till it died again.

"Sorry Martyn, I can only avoid one at a time!" The mage called, and rocks and rubble scraped against the solid stone beneath his feet as he changed directions to avoid the Enderman after him. I looked around the best I could, (though I wanted to help, I got the feeling that being covered in arrow wounds, complete with the arrows still in them, and scratches would make me unable to avoid one of the creatures. Rythian was clearly experienced in avoiding the Endermen, even injured.) By looking around, I could see that there were five pairs of glowing purple eyes still.

Wait, shouldn't there only be four?

Rythian's eyes were glowing like one of the creatures he hated so much.

After he'd said he could only avoid one, of course a second decided to come after Rythian. He scrambled away from the first, ran almost directly into the second, and ended up diving under it, rolling in order to stand up. Mid-roll, there was a sickening popping noise, and Rythian immediately spun around once he was standing so that his back was to the wall.

"Rythian, please tell me that was not what I think it was?" In response, he reached behind him, and his hand came back glistening with red.

"That's a lot of blood." He remarked, and stood up as the next creature came after him.

"Rythie?" Zoeya's voice caught Rythian off guard, and while he didn't get slashed in his distraction, but he did get slammed into a wall.

There was a sharp huffing noise, probably from the mage having the breath knocked out of him, but it was cut off which a hiss of pain.

"That won't have helped the blood." He coughed, struggling to regain the ability to breathe properly.

"Rythian, stay down for Notch's sake!" Martyn told him.

Zoeya did not seem reassured by what she had just heard. "Rythian?"

"Stay up there, Zoeya, I'm fine!" Rythian was still coughing and trying to get his breath back, and the Endermen he'd been fighting (more like outrunning) were coming after him again, so I wasn't sure how he could say that.

Zoeya did not listen, and she and Kim joined us in the crater. "Oh, notch dammit guys! We can handle this!" I cursed, but neither girl listened.

Which was good, I guess, because Rythian had been about five seconds from being stabbed by an enderman's claws, and it didn't look like he was going to be able to move properly.

But I wouldn't say Zoeya's solution was a good one, since it involved two negative factors. One, she shot at the enderman, which made it teleport to somewhere else, which was behind her, and two, she wasn't supposed to use her arm's power since they ran off her own energy.

Meanwhile, Kim had walked over to me to chase away the enderman that had decided now that I was a good target. "Never said a woman to do my job." She muttered. "Honestly Lalna."

"You're the fucking worst, Kim." I looked over at Rythian, who was already on his feet again and running over to help Zoeya. Apparently that shot (that sadly hadn't worked), had taken a lot of her energy, because she seemed a little weak.

"C'mon, Zo." He muttered anxiously, trying to get the girl to stumble out of the way, which was working, but slow enough that the annoyed enderman could keep up.

"You go, Rythie! I don't think it'll come after me, I never hit it." The redhead offered.

"No. Trust me, it will." Rythian pulled her to the side as the creature slashed at the two, missing Zoeya's side by about an inch.

"Focus, Lalna." Kim scolded, and I turned back to our own problem. I ducked to avoid one set of claws, and another slashed at my gut, which I narrowly avoided.

While that was happened, Kim jumped up onto a high outcropping of rock and bashed her fist on the head of the enderman, which didn't do much, but made a satisfying noise.

"That was fun!" She said, smiling. "Oops!" Kim ducked under the creature, and glared at it. "You're going to have to try harder than that."

I was less lucky, and did get slashed, three more tracks appearing on the opposite side of my neck to match the first.

"We need a weapon." I remarked.

"You think?" Rythian scorned, ducking down and kicking the legs out from the creature he and Zoeya were facing.

Zoeya seemed to have recovered from her earlier energy loss, and was running around to distract the enderman.

They were doing well, until Rythian slipped in a patch of blood and ended up on his back. "Ouch."

"Rythie? Are you alright?" Zoeya asked, and the Mage nodded, but didn't stand.

Thankfully, a very cut up and beat up Martyn had arrived, finally having taken out the other mobs, and slashed a sword at the Endermen. They hissed and one teleported behind the man, who spun around and hit it again, though it didn't look like it was that hard. The other slashed at Martyn's ribs, so he spun and slashed that one too.

Rythian sighed and tried to struggle to his feet, but Martyn stopped him with a glare. "I've got this, Rythian. You're injured enough, you were yesterday. You too, Lalna."

"We're all injured." Rythian pointed out, though he didn't stand up. "Look at yourself, Martyn."

Thankfully, the man in the green shirt wasn't so injured that he couldn't fight off the Endermen. With all the mobs taken care off, we all struggled to climb out of the crater.

Most people's first response was 'what the hell Rythian?, which had been mine as well.

Except Kim. Her first reaction was to pull the arrows out, which hurt like a bitch.

Especially since I kept tensing up.

Rythian's response was, "No one's dead, who knows what would have happened. Lalna was being attacked by a ton of stuff, and Martyn was busy. I may not really like him, but I don't want him dead." Rythian said irritably, not turning his back from the crater. The bandages over his hand and his fingers were covered in his own blood. He flicked his hand disgustedly and an arc of red drops splattered on the pure white floor.

Rythian managed to walk back to his spot on the wall, but as he sat down, his back left a blood red smear down the white marble bricks.

"Rythian?" Toby noticed first. "What the hell happened?"

I knew, but Rythian answered first, and this time he was honest. "I tore something open on my back."

Zoeya ran to the back again, sighing. "Can you not go a day in here without getting hurt? You are way too dependant on armour." She threw both Martyn and I a soaked grey rag for cleaning the our wounds, then got to work cleaning up Rythian's wound.

Kim walked up and took the cloth out of my hand. "Sit down, coat off, and possibly your shirt. You get to match Rythian now." She ordered, frowning at the puncture on my back from the first arrow.

Zoeya

"Honest to goodness, Rythian. This is a mess!" I complained, wiping at the blood on his back. "And I wasn't supposed to put water on your burn, but now you've torn it open! We all told you to stay put, but you had to go after the Endermen."

"I'd rather be injured than have had the ability to prevent someone's death on not have- ow! Zoeya!" He hissed, shifting away and I passed the rag over the burn.

"Stop moving! I understand the feeling, but now you get to sit still and let me take care of you." Zoeya told the mage. Toby laughed.

"You two sound like an old married couple!" He told us. My face flushed, but Rythian just chuckled.

"Shut up and put more water on your burns." I told him, more embarrassed than anything.

My words only made Toby laugh even more, so I went back to cleaning up the blood. "And… it's still bleeding, so I can't even clean it up properly. Honestly Rythian."

Rythian ignored my criticism and sighed. "When you're done can I at least have my coat back? I'm tired of being shirtless."

"Fine, but I have to make the hole in the back bigger so that it doesn't rub on the burn or gash or whatever it is now." I agreed. "How're your arms?"

"Difficult to move, but I still can. I used them to outrun two Endermen, in fairness. It just seems like they don't want to listen." He rubbed at some slash marks on his shoulder that were bleeding sluggishly, and the movement of his back made the wound bleed more, so I pushed his arm down again, frowning.

"I said no moving, Rythie." I scolded, as I had just gotten the wound to stop bleeding. I grabbed another cloth and used that, as the one I had was covered in blood.

All this blood was really helping me on the matter of not eating for close to twenty-four hours. I really wasn't hungry, after burns and blood and stuff.

"Zoeya! You can stop digging your fingers into the burn anytime now!" Rythian complained, though to his credit he didn't move.

"Oh! Sorry!" I exclaimed, moving my hand away.

"No problem." He hissed. "But I thought you were trying to help, not make it worse!"

"It seems to be clean now, so I'll wash off the wall, because the red smear is kinda creepy." I paused. "Here's your coat, rip the hole in the back wider before you put it on, okay?"

"Alright, I will." I heard the sound of tearing fabric and turned to clean the wall.

"Oh, and here. You should be able to move now." I handed Rythian a wet cloth. Admittedly, I was using whatever fabric we had around, and right now the rags were made of his old shirt. "Use that to clean up the scratches."

Rythian already had his coat on by the time I turned away from the wall, and seemed a lot more comfortable. "Sorry I've been irritable." I muttered, out of the blue as I was sitting down next to him. "You're just worrying me."

Glancing around to make sure everyone was looking in a different direction, Rythian pulled down his mask and quickly and quietly pressed his lips to mine, before pulling the cloth up again. I frowned.

"You're going to have to tell them about that soon, you know. The mask. They already know why you kissed me."

He shook his head. "How long did we live together before I told you? A year or two? I think I've got some time." Of course Rythian didn't want to tell anyone. Who could blame him? It wasn't a secret you would want known.

"Rythian, I'm sorry for bothering you about it. But… I think Sjin was right. It is dangerous." I watched his face, carefully trying not to upset him.

But he didn't seem angry. Rythian leaned back with a slight groan. "I know it is. Listen. Give it a week. If in a week we're still stuck in here, I'll spill. But I'd rather avoid it."

I gave him a hug. "I would too. I know how important keeping that secret is to you. And why it's so important."

He sighed. "I've spent my life trying to hide that. You're lucky you pried it out of me after so long."

"Well, I kind of figured out it was dangerous and told you I was leaving if you didn't tell me." Not one of my finest moments, but I'd been scared.

"My heart stopped when you said that." Rythian admitted. "I can't stand losing you again."

"Hey!" Lalna called. "What're you two lovebirds over there flirting about?"

I couldn't help it. I started giggling. Rythian, sounding flustered, tried to make an excuse, but I just laughed.

A/N this chapter took a month and a half to write. :(

Look up! All the lights in the sky are stars

-Area 11, Heaven-Piercing Giga Drill


	6. Chapter 6

**They like to fight, they like to steal, they like to lie and cheat and then pretend it's real.**

**-Powerman 5000, How To Be A Human**

**A/N CAT. That's all I have to say. (That has nothing to do with the story, either.)**

**Also, sound familiar, Spirit?**

Kim

"Lalna, how the hell did you manage to get shot this many times in the five minutes you were down there?" I demanded, wiping the blood of yet another puncture mark, this one on his shoulder. As promised, the scientist's shirt was now sitting next to him on the floor, except he didn't even match anyone, because Rythian had his coat back on.

"The skeleton was fucking mean, Kim." Lalna said in a pathetic voice. "And the zombies, and the Endermen-"

"I get the point. And Rythian kind of tackled the Enderman that was after you, from what I understand, so I don't know why you're complaining. And then I did most of the work once it came after you again." My stomach growled all of the sudden. "Maybe I should have eaten before coming here."

"Can you wait?" Lalna asked, looking up at me with concern in his gaze.

"Of course I can, Lalna! Geez!" He was way too protective sometimes, it was unbelievably annoying.

As sort of sweet, in a strange way.

"Ow, Kim!" Lalna protested. "You're hurting my arm."

"Suck it up." I answered, as the blood hadn't yet stopped so I wasn't done with that spot. "That arrow went deep."

"I can tell." Lalna groaned, trying not to wince away. "Now what the fuck are you doing?"

"I think the arrowhead broke in this one." I explained, feeling the sharp bit in the wound. Resting the cloth on his other shoulder, I stuck my purple fingers into the cut, ignoring Lalna's not at all quiet complaints, digging into muscle and sinew, blood spurting out around my fingers. Lalna all but gave up making noise and just curled up into a ball, whimpering like a kicked puppy. My hands looked a bit like a murder scene at this point, but I found the arrowhead and pulled the black bit out.

"There we go," I grabbed the cloth again and pressed it to the wound that was spurting blood again. "The arrow's out."

"That's great." Lalna groaned, and wiped tears out of his eyes. "That fucking hurt, Kim."

"Again, I don't care." I could be heartless when I wanted to.

Curious, I glanced around at everyone else. Both Rythian and Martyn were already taken care of, so either I was slow, which I really wasn't, or somehow the ridiculous scientist had managed to get himself more hurt than everyone else by going to help.

Very noble, but also something most people did when they actually had a weapon.

Then again, Lalna was by no means most people. He was quite the opposite. And would not have seen it that way.

"And so! You and Martyn get to join the injured and slightly useless group along with Rythian and Toby. Guess who we're eating first!"

"Don't let them eat me, Kim! You wouldn't let them eat me!" Lalna said worriedly.

"I wouldn't?" I laughed.

"Kim! Don't eat me!" The desperation in his voice was hilarious, but sort of pitiful.

"Honestly Lalna. I'm not going to eat you. Cmon, we're more likely to eat Rythian, no one but Zoeya likes him." It was a joke. And a funny one, at the time.

"Nah, let's eat Sjin. I don't think anyone likes Sjin at this point." Lalna suggested. "He's a jerk."

"That's very true." I agreed. "It's decided. We eat Sjin first. He'll probably taste awful." And we stopped joking about eating people.

"So now that four of us are practically useless, what do we do?" Lalna, Martyn, and Rythian all seemed slightly offended by my words, but apparently none had the energy to protest. Or the will.

And Toby just groaned.

"What can we do?" Sjin asked, voicing the sullen mood around the group of us. "We can't fucking get out of here, we can barely fight off the mobs, and we already have three people injured, one of them my fault, so I apologize. But the point is still there! It seems like whoever summoned us here, summoned us to die." The man had gave word to everyone's fear. Why else would we be here, nearly defenceless and seemingly awaiting death?

"So basically, what you're saying is, we're all screwed, Sjin." Ravs reiterated. "So the question is, why did we all fall for the same damned letter?"

"Zoeya and I thought it was Lalna, trying to make threats again." Rythian admitted from his spot against the back wall. His skin was starting to look a little pale, but it was probably just the stress and strangeness of the situation.

"And we thought it was you." Lalna admitted, sighing. "Now I kinda wish it just had been."

"I thought it was Rythian as well, to be honest." Sjin called.

"See, Toby, Kaeyi and I just thought it was a normal meeting." Martyn offered, one eye squinted shut from already swollen gashes over his eye, like from a zombie's scratches.

"Same goes for Teep and I." Ravs admitted. "And I assume the same for Nilesy?"

"Yep! I think the moral of the story is we all need to trust each other more, and not fall for this sort of shit, in the future." The pool boy said brightly.

"If we get out of this alive." Rythian added, being oddly realistic. Lately he seemed prone to just ignoring everything.

"We're going to get out alive." Zoeya said, in her usual optimistic manner.

Sjin looked at the girl. "Really? How? We're fucking trapped in here, with one weapon, minimal food and water supplies, and who knows how long we'll be in here!"

"And I guarantee most of us have been in worse situations before!" The redhead tried, but we hadn't really. We'd been in situations with no supplies, but we'd always had ways to get supplies.

"Zoeya, enough. Sjin's right." Rythian muttered, though loud enough that we all could hear. "We all screwed up, and we're all going to suffer for it now."

Zoeya looked like she wanted to argue, but thought the better of it.

"Alright. But what are we going to do for now?" I asked, hoping someone had an answer.

But no one did. The room had fallen silent again, even Sjin seemed to understand that this wasn't a time for more realist comments.

**Zoeya POV**

I wanted to keep up being positive, but I knew it wasn't welcome. Besides, what could I say that would contradict the fact that Sjin was right?

"Sorry, Zo." Rythian muttered. "We all know you're trying to help. It's just that now isn't the time."

I nodded, starting to feel a bit down myself. Sjin was right, and I knew it.

"Hey," Rythian began, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me closer, "don't look so upset. We'll figure this out." His voice was hollow, promises empty.

"How?" I muttered, the severity of the situation hitting me all of the sudden. "Lalna, Toby, Martyn and you are already injured, and we've been here a day. How are we going to last any longer?"

Rythian chuckled. "We may be hurt, but we aren't dead yet. I'll heal fast, and most of the other wounds at pretty substantial. Except for a few of those arrows that got Lalna pretty good."

"I know. But you don't heal quickly unless you're healthy, and we aren't going to be healthy if we're practically waiting to starve to death, and the others won't heal well either."

"Now you sound like a pessimist." Rythian remarked.

"And you're being an optimist, so we've just switched roles." I pointed out, with a slight smile. "You've been being optimistic all day now."

"Fair enough. You go back to being an optimist though, all this positivity is starting to get hard to manage." The endermage muttered, all positive demeanour gone in an instant.

"Alright. I don't know why I was being so down, since we're all too awesome to get killed by this!"

Rythian smiled. "There's the Zoeya we know and love."

"Aw," I began teasingly. "You love me even when I'm being down."

"I see no shame in admitting that, Zoeya." Rythian said seriously. "I love you, as a whole. The good and the bad, the positive and negative."

"Are you lovebirds flirting again?" Lalna called from across the room.

"Yeah, now go back to kissing Kim, Lalna." I replied, and got a bit of a laugh from around the room.

"I can't, I might miss the first bit of romantic action around here!" The scientist replied.

"News for you, Lalna." Rythian began. "You don't pay enough attention, because you already have missed it."

"Dammit!" The blond cursed. "I wanted to bug you two about it!"

"Of course you did. That's why we made sure you missed it." The mage chuckled.

"Wow. That's rude." The scientist complained.

"What, that you don't pay enough attention? Anyways, that's enough of this. You guys can have this contest later, and we'll all laugh at you." Martyn said quietly.

"Alright, but what are we going to talk about then?"

"Something other than your romance life, Lalna. Or Zoeya and Rythian's, for that matter." Ravs replied in a dry tone.

**Xephos' POV**

"Alright, what next?" I asked. "A bunch of them are there already, the others are on their way." I couldn't remember most of our plan, too much worry was chewing at my insides. Why had I agreed to help with this?

The person behind this experiment chuckled. "We wait. Weren't you listening to them? They know what's going on." He answered, a twisted grin on his face. He enjoyed this sort of thing.

I paused to listen, though I already knew what they were talking about, and right now it wasn't the matter of their doom, it was something about flirting and romance. My friends couldn't stay on a serious topic for more than five minutes, that was a fact. "Do we really have to kill them?"

The man chuckled again. "We aren't killing them. We won't be doing anything but observing. They'll kill each other before their time is up." He promised, a sick, evil grin on his face.

"Why are we doing this again?" I asked, nervous because I knew who was in the next group. Lomadia. That was why guilt and fear were eating my insides. I was allowing Lomadia to be put in this situation, because I couldn't stop this person.

"Xephos, are you just going to ask questions all day?" The man asked impatiently. "We've been over this all, and if you can't remember, then that's your problem!"

"Sorry. I just can't remember how this will benefit anything, to have so many dead!" I protested, wishing I could stop this, even though it had already begun.

"You'll see when it's done." The man promised, smiling. "Or maybe you won't." He added in an undertone, then refused to answer any more of my questions.

**Get out, Xephos! LOL**

**-CloseToSomethingReal**

**One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and four to go! For the life of me I don't know why it took me so long to see**

**-Marianna's Trench, Stutter**


	7. Chapter 7

**What Happens When 7**

**If you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears. If you screamed, I'd fight away all of your tears.**

**-My Immortal**

**Heya guys! I'm baaaaack!**

**-CloseToSomethingReal **

**Again, shout out to EndingFury for helping me out with ideas, because I seem to get stuck at certain parts for ages with no ideas.**

**(Psst. EndingFury wrote her own credit, just FYI. However it is true)**

MARTYN

No one heard the portal this time. Perhaps we were still distracted when the witch, dirt seller and dwarf came stumbling through the maroon portal.

What we were distracted by was mostly Ravs' stupid joke about a testificate, a squid, and a bartender.

The majority of us laughed, except Rythian and Zoeya. They looked a bit green.

"You didn't actually…" Rythian began. "The squids were one thing, testificates are another…"

"A true master never reveals his recipes. Unless he can pretend he didn't."

By this point, it was a good thing that Nilesy had found another bucket to be the washroom thing, because Zoeya promptly ran over to it and lost whatever was still left in her stomach at this point.

"What the hell?" I asked, glancing between the three. "What's wrong with Ravs' joke?"

"It wasn't a joke." Rythian replied, jumping to his feet and running to Zoeya, holding back her hair while she retched again.

"We've missed something important, haven't we?" Honeydew realized, eyes darting back and forth between the bartender and the now-ill couple.

"Yeah. All this blood and me being sick is really making it easy to go without food," Zoeya remarked, sitting up and wiping her mouth on the coat she was wearing, "good thing."

"Yeah, no. Zoeya, you need to eat something if you've been sick." Lalna told her.

"I was only sick because Ravs turned us into cannibals!" The girl complained, glaring at the man in the kilt. "I'm not actually sick!"

"Wait. Ravs actually puts testificates in his drinks?" Minty gasped, looking appalled. "Ravs! That's not how you make whiskey!"

"I was out of supplies," Ravs explained, "and there were a bunch of testificates around."

"You're worse than Lalnable." Nano muttered. "And no, Zoeya, you're not really a cannibal. You didn't know."

"That's not very reassuring. Sounds like telling a magician who cast a spell that kills someone without knowing it would that they aren't a murderer, they didn't know." Zoeya breathed, seeming a little weak. "I'm a vegetarian! What made you think I wanted to drink something made of testificates? Or squids for that matter."

"The squids you're going to have to ask Rythian about. He told me to give you one." Ravs answered, holding his hands up in the air.

Zoeya just groaned. She looked like she might throw up again.

"Okay. Lesson of this story is don't drink Ravs' brew." I announced. "And Honeydew, Lomadia and Sips? Welcome to our prison. The person who summoned us isn't here yet."

"Good to know, in both cases." Lomadia muttered, rolling her eyes. "It's terribly rude of the person who called us here not to arrive yet."

"Isn't it?" Nilesy agreed. "Now. Is anyone really really hungry?"

Lalna looked immediately at the pool boy, having clearly thought of this earlier. "There might be some additions to this, but we need to give the injured food, sorry about how that sounds selfish since I'm injured, and Zoeya needs something because she just threw up what was left in her stomach."

"That's true. Anyone else? Feel free to ask, we clearly have an issue with mobs, so everyone needs to keep their strength up," Nilesy offered, though the knowledge that our food supply was already low probably kept mouths shut.

So food was only given to the injured and Zoeya. Not much, just a bit of fish for everyone, and the girl got half an apple that Lomadia had found in her bag and Lalna managed to rip in half, because it was the only non-meat option they had. Everyone had to just hope that they wouldn't be in here long enough for her to have to eat meat to survive.

"So. What now?" I asked, glancing around and the group.

"Not a clue. We have no way of getting out, the crazy-ass person that sent the letters isn't here yet, and we're all screwed!" Toby cackled.

"Shut up, Toby." I said automatically, glaring daggers at the boy.

"Sorry, I had to." He snickered. "But seriously. I am sort of right."

"We're not screwed!" Lalna protested. "We're in a bit of shit, but we aren't screwed."

"Prove him wrong, Lalna." Rythian challenged. "Prove we aren't screwed."

"I… er… we'll be fine!" Lalna insisted.

"You keep saying that. I don't think you believe it." Nilesy remarked.

"Everyone, shut up!" Nano yelled. "We're all being ridiculous! It's been one night! We'll fucking survive!"

The portal popped open again. I glanced over to look at who was coming in, but I was pretty sure they were already here.

Well, maybe not. The newcomers looked very similar to Nano and Lalna, but the blond had much longer hair and red eyes, and the one that looked like Nano was more purple and wore green flowers and a green gem.

"Fuck." The man swore the moment he saw Lalna.

"Boss?" The girl looked where the man was looking a repeated her 'boss'' earlier statement.

Lalna and Nano didn't look much more impressed.

"Who are you? Why are you a shorter, dumber looking Lalna?" Honeydew asked, glaring at him.

The person who looked like Lalna spun around on his heels to face Honeydew. "And since when are you one to talk about height, or looking dumb, clone 0072528461?" He retorted, his voice much deeper and menacing than his lookalike's.

What had he just called Honeydew? A clone? Since when? And why was the number so long?

"And to answer your question, my name is Lalnable Hector." The blond added.

"Who invited you, subject 294?" Lalna demanded.

"Same for you, clone 0038462549?" Lalnable countered.

"Can you call each other by names? Please?" Zoeya said suddenly. "These numbers are hard to keep straight!"

"Actually, Zoeya, they aren't. The first eight don't matter, they're code for the different clones, and the last two are their actually number, which are just in chronological order. 'Honeydew' is clone number sixty-one, 'Lalna' is clone number forty-nine. Of their respective people." Rythian said suddenly. "Subject numbers are entirely relevant. Lalnable's the 294th subject in YogLabs."

"There's sixty-one versions of me?" Honeydew cried in horror.

"You're the sixty-first clone of someone, Honeydew." Lalnable replied with a bored look. "And 'Lalna' is the forty-ninth clone of myself."

"Why do you even bother with the other numbers then? They just sound confusing." Honeydew complained.

"They aren't, really. They're your coding." Lalnable replied, seeming tired of being quizzed.

"Well, thanks for coming, now get out of here!" Lalna told the two.

The girl who looked like Nano turned around and stared at where the portal should have been. "We'd love to, Lalna, but it seems we can't." Her voice wasn't much different in volume or pitch, but she was much more mocking than Nano.

"Shut up, Specimen Five!" Lalna snapped angrily, though she was right.

"Make me, Lalna!" She fired back, the name sounding like an insult on her tongue.

"Guys!" I yelled, finally sick of all the insults and hostility. "If they're here, it's for a reason, so stop bitching! And you," I turned to the newcomers. "No more of the numbers. We have names."

"Do we?" The one Lalna had called Specimen Five asked, in a fake innocent tone.

"You're an exception, Five, because Lalnable's too stupid to come up with a name! Or clone you right." Nano called.

"I said enough! So help me, I will slam your heads together if you don't stop! Rythian will help me!" I warned, dragging Rythian in because he looked just as annoyed as me.

"That I will. I call the Lalnas though." The mage agreed.

"Funny how you call us 'Lalnas' when Lalna is the name of a failed clone of myself." Lalnable remarked.

Rythian froze. I'd heard that the first time it had been implied, and had been a little concerning considering Lalnable was covered in blood and didn't seem very friendly.

"Sorry. But the point is, I will help Martyn slam your heads together if you don't stop." The purple eyed man said quickly.

Specimen Five giggled. "Interesting decision, considering the both of you are injured." She remarked.

"She's got a point." Nilesy agreed. "Some others can do it instead."

"What's your problem with each other, anyways? You're the same people-" Rythian didn't get to finish his statement before all four of the clones and original's cut him off.

"No. We aren't." They all said, in varying tones of annoyance.

"Fine. The question still stands: what do you have against each other?"

Turmoil. Lalna started going off about Lalnable killing his cat, Five seemed upset about the Deep Dark, Nano was talking about vampire attacks and a Billy and Lalnable said something about clones.

"I regret asking." The Mage decided.

"Especially since you don't actually care, do you?" Lalna added.

"No, I don't really. If it was a simple answer I might have, but it seems you have a long history." Rythian confirmed.

"Long story short: we're nothing short of enemies." Five said with a glare in Lalna's direction.

"Join the club." Rythian told her. Lalna huffed.

"Anyways, I suppose since you don't actually know anyone, except Honeydew, Lalna and Nano, we should introduce ourselves." Zoeya realized. "So, you're Lalnable and Specimen Five?"

Neither of the newcomers looked like this idea interested them, but the nodded. "Just Five will do. And yourself?" The clone challenged.

"Zoeya Proasheck." No one else moved to introduce themselves until the redhead drove her elbow into Rythian's side.

"Rythian." He said quickly, shying away from her strike. He was hurt, after all.

"Martyn." I said before Zoeya could elbow me as well.

We went around the rest of the room, each person reluctantly giving their name.

Lalnable and Five didn't seem to care. Sure, they looked like they were paying attention, if you didn't focus on them. They never were looking at the one speaking, and were giving off serious bored vibes.

LALNABLE

"Don't tell them anything, Five." I whispered, hoping it didn't look too suspicious. I wasn't super tall, as the dwarf of all people felt the need to point out, but I was taller than the clone. She nodded.

This was a dangerous situation, and it seemed neither of us were willing to ignore it.

"So if you're the original, why has no one ever heard of you?" The redhead asked, looking puzzled.

"Because, Zoeya, Xephos was smart and locked that nutcase up in YogLabs. But he broke out." Lalna replied.

"How did you find that out?" I demanded, not impressed that the clone actually knew that.

"I'm friends with your old boss. You're an interesting subject with him."

"Xephos doesn't know anything important about me." I declared. I'd changed since I'd left. The stupid spaceman didn't know me anymore.

That could probably be attributed to Five, for the most part, but I wouldn't admit that.

"Sure he does. He knows you're dangerous, and that you're meant to be locked up, and when I mentioned miss Specimen Five… his opinion on her was easy." The blond paused, and then did his best to imitate Xephos, which was somehow good enough to make me cringe. "He's made a clone? It's unregistered. Destroy it."

"Really? Did he mention that by technicality you're a failed clone, and should be destroyed as well?" Five giggled.

"And you likely will be. You know too much." I laughed. That had been part of the point of telling this clone that I was the original. That was classified information, a Lalna couldn't know that.

After all, what if they became like me because of it?

Lalna went pale. My job was done.

"Enough. YogLabs can't do anything to any of us right now." Lomadia said with a sigh. "Xephos isn't even here."

"Fair point." Nano agreed, sighing.

"Thank Notch for small miracles." I added.

"Shut up!" Lalna snapped.

This was going to be a long day.

**See y'all soon! I have a laptop now, so my updates will be quicker.**


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